£50 million Dudley eyesore development revealed

Developer Avenbury Properties today confirmed it was the mystery buyer who snapped up the building at a recent auction held in London.

The office block had been given a guide price of between £1.2 million and £1.5m - but sold last month for £800,000.

It means a significant hurdle has now been overcome for the company's ambitious Porters Field scheme which will bring new restaurants, shops and homes to the town centre.

There were concerns if the building had been bought by another group it could have thrown the project into doubt.

But bosses said they had 'secured' the dilapidated complex when it went under the hammer at London auctioneers Allsop.

And they said it now 'clears the way' for the Porters Field scheme once planning permission has been approved by Dudley Council.

The office block, which has been boarded up for years, will be demolished as part of the project which is expected to create around 500 new jobs.

It was once home to offices for the former Inland Revenue but has been empty for many years.

The proposed project covers an area stretching between Trindle Road and King Street and between Flood Street and Oakeywell Street.

It also aims to improve links between King Street and the rest of the town centre - including High Street and Market Place.

A spokesman for Avenbury Properties said: "The purchase of Cavendish House clears the way for the project to progress.

"We will be working closely with planners to deliver a scheme which will see Cavendish House replaced with an exciting retail-led development, creating a vibrant new shopping quarter acting as a catalyst for further regeneration in Dudley."

Bosses from the firm said they had been impressed by other regeneration proposals to improve the Black Country town.

They said it will lead to a greater number of visitors to leisure and shopping facilities.

Dudley councillor Khurshid Ahmed, who is in charge of economic developments in the borough, heralded the scheme for boosting investment and bring jobs to the town.

"We are continuing our work with the developers to bring forward these proposals," he said.

"The sale of Cavendish to the partners with whom we are negotiating means that proposals have taken a huge step forward.

"This is excellent news for the town and reinforces our ambition to bring more jobs and investment to Dudley."

Previous owners Abstract decided to put the office block up for sale after Dudley Council favoured the Porters Field project.

Bosses from the firm said it wanted to concentrate on projects other than in Dudley.

Dudley Council said it did not believe the sale would impact on existing plans for site.

But the borough's Conservative group said it did not see how the building could be sold without it affecting proposals.

The plans for Porters Field come as work will start on another new development coming to the town.

Around £5 million will be spent creating four new restaurants and cafes at Castlegate Park, off Birmingham Road.

Up to 80 jobs will be created by the scheme which will see a Hungry Horse pub, a Costa Coffee cafe and a KFC restaurant built on vacant land at the site.

A fourth unit will also be constructed on the site, owned by the Homes and Communities Agency, with bosses at developer Stoford hoping to attract another restaurant to the complex.

It will join Showcase Cinema and restaurants Nandos and Frankie and Bennys already based on the park.